Breakfast the following morning was a small, but still quality, affair. Coffee, tea and savory stuffed pastries were laid out on the desk and Adam's study was arranged comfortably for 3 people. Adam, however, was conspicuously absent. It was nearly 30 minutes past the agreed upon time when Adam tumbled into the room. And tumbled was a pretty accurate description as well as looking fairly rumpled. Very much unlike his usual, well put together self, he gave a brief nod at the two ladies, mumbled an apology, and disappeared into his private quarters. Adam was grateful that Ren had taken over much of the running of the House; he hated to admit it but the volume of details involved in maintaining the investments, member lists, supply orders, member needs, and everything else was far greater than he had anticipated. But even with Ren's help there were other things that needed handling directly, things he had to handle personally, reports he needed to investigate directly. Not to mention it had been long, far too long, since he had visited his lady love. Last night had been the first time in many days he had enough free time to join her. It had vastly improved his mental state, it did him good to relax his focus even for a few hours. Unfortunately, or fortunately, when he left her flat his thoughts returned to the reports he had been looking at earlier and the pattern he had suspected now glowed in his mind like fire. Instead of returning to the House Ianus as was his original plan he had to take a few detours to check up on pieces of the pattern. If all the threads linked up it was something they would have to address quickly, threats to the Society could not be allowed to fester. [i]a dragon to slay another day[/i] Adam thought to himself as he changed quickly, ordering his mind for the task ahead as he did so. He hated looking so rumpled when he walked in; he took the time to put himself to rights before joining the ladies in the outer study. They would just have to be late, sometimes physical appearances mattered. When Adam returned he looked a heap sight better, save for a few signs of tiredness around his eyes. Pressed and dressed he strode into the room and proceeded to pour himself a cup of tea and hurriedly ate one more of the croissants. “Terribly sorry about my disarray ladies” he said with a polite nod and a briefly raised eyebrow at Lily's appearance. “And for my tardiness. It seemed I had more to do last night than I had at first expected. There are also one or two important matters that might bear further investigating after we have handled the current issue. It seems there is no shortage of problems that our small detective group will need to handle. Those however, are dragons to slay another day. I can assume that we are ready to head out?” “Miss Lucie, I have obtained for you a rather detailed drawing of the child in question. It occurred to me that perhaps the staff might not be overly helpful in directing you to the correct child and we don't want to make an error. I doubt it will be necessary however best to be prepared.” He handed Lucie a drawing of a child with short dark hair and a rather tired expression. “Good luck!” [url=https://ibb.co/6s6T6Qv][img]https://i.ibb.co/mzQ2Qpv/I-Wait-1872-by-Julia-Margaret-Cameron-is-shown-in-this-handout-photo-The-albumen-print-portrait-of-a.jpg[/img][/url] Adam rose leaving his partly drunk tea on the mantle. “Well Miss Lily it appears you are more than ready, I trust you are armed slightly as well, shall we depart?” Adam's personal carriage was waiting at the house steps, with his personal driver, not the House staff. After all he was attending the physician's request as a personal family friend. He didn't want to come off as anything other than just that. He assisted Lily up into the carriage as any proper gentleman would and soon they were off. Adam was silent during the ride, something that Lily was used to. He was thankful she didn't require chatter, it was a blessed relief. He would work with her every time he required a partner if he could; few people realized how important silence was. He closed his eyes and sunk into the seat to think things over ignoring the city as it passed by. [url=https://imgbb.com/][img]https://i.ibb.co/cbt71nR/Property-d72e00000000047600015d1e5de5-74854103.jpg[/img][/url] When they arrived at the hospital Adam was a bit surprised. It looked like anything but a hospital; the grounds pretty and tended, not unexpected as he assumed they would hide the place behind pretty landscaped trees and bushes. The building, however, was an ordinary manor without the institutional feeling he had expected. His eyes swept across an ordinary manor house, white walls, stately front door, nothing to indicate that it served as a private asylum. He didn't see a thing out of place, this place could stand unnoticed next to any other wealthy manor of the city and no one would be the wiser. He placed a hand on Lily's arm, stopping her before they could get out. “I know we are coming as invited guests, and as a favor to a friend. As my assistant you will be ignored by everyone, including me, and will be in a unique position to learn far more than they think they are telling you. However, should the situation arise, be prepared and do not hesitate to do whatever you must to keep yourself safe. As you might recall last time I visited a friend I found it to be a bit of an unpleasant experience. I've no wish to repeat such things.” With that he descended the stairs of the carriage, a stiff proper young gentleman as expected. He assisted Lily down and then proceeded to ignore her as he had said he would. [url=https://ibb.co/t832ygZ][img]https://i.ibb.co/ChW9xgJ/MN-AB195-PRAGUE-P-20121227123447.jpg[/img][/url] A footman greeted them at the door and led them through an expansive entryway to a tastefully decorated parlor. Adam followed the man's quick steps never looking back to see if Lily was keeping up. His quick eyes caught glimpses of a much more institutionalized series of buildings out the rear windows. They reminded him of a school dormitory; rows of windows in a colorless building. That was obviously the real hospital; this was just a front. He wondered if they good doctor they were waiting on to meet would be the same way; a pretty front hiding a drab and institutionalized interior. Adam took up a spot at the window, staring out into the back yard. He looked deep in thought and he was a bit but mostly he was scanning the yard to get a feel for the layout and where a wandering child might actually go...people, like water, usually took the path of least resistance. “Ahh Mr. Ware” said a warm voice and Adam turned and smiled at the older gentleman who entered. The man looked exactly like any other wealthy doctor of the city except he had a rather more pleasant demeanor. “I'm so glad you could visit. I feel at a loss.” “Of course” said Adam nodding at the doctor “I would be delighted to be of some small service to you, my parents spoke highly of you.” It was a lie, his parents had barely mentioned the man in anything other than an average acquaintance but Adam was determined to be, at least outwardly, helpful. “I hope you don't mind, my assistant has accompanied me this day” he waved his hand vaguely in Lily's general direction “to take notes and whatever else.” The doctor glanced briefly at Lily, looked her over with a slight frown, then dismissed her from his mind almost instantly leaving Lily to be unnoticed once again. “Of course of course” he said and gestured for Adam to sit. Adam did so and looked politely at the doctor waiting in silence. People tended to dislike silence so if you waited long enough you could sometimes find out interesting things. He didn't look at where Lily settled herself but he felt her presence not far off. The doctor wasn't even looking at her. He was pacing in a tiny circle looking agitated and puzzled. Finally he spoke. “The child I spoke of, you realize her parents can't know of any of what I'm about to tell you correct?” Adam nodded benignly and concealed his distaste. He wasn't sure if it was the doctor or the parents who deserved it but it was clear already the child was nothing more than an income stream to the doctor. “Every night she disappears. We have no idea where she goes, how she gets out, or how she gets back. I've assigned orderlies to watch her all night...it doesn't help. She always vanishes and no one knows how. They don't fall asleep, and it's not like she just...poofs...or anything. She's just there asleep one moment, gone the next, stays gone all night, morning comes and there she is but now awake.” Adam frowned. That was a bit stranger than he had anticipated. He had assumed the child was using a Talent of some kind to sneak off but this almost sounded like she was vanishing into thin air. Not impossible but not very probable. The doctor kept on talking not noticing Adam's frown. “I've tried having our groundskeepers keep watch. I've tried tying her up. I've tried drugging her. I've tried locking her room. Putting her in a closet with only a single entry way. I even bought a scent hound to track her once she vanished; it was unable to pick up her trail. Nothing seems to change no matter what I do. I haven't mentioned anything to her parents because she always turns up again. And that's the other problem. She never talks when she gets back. Just sits and stares at nothing. It's like her body is back but not her mind.” [i]That[/i] Adam thought [i]might be closer to the truth than the good doctor realized[/i] “Eventually she seems to return to normal, or as normal as she ever gets, but along with it comes long detailed fanciful stories. I remember how good your father was at unraveling puzzles and solving what he termed 'armchair mysteries' and I had hoped you might be the same way. I just want to be sure she won't..uh...vanish...permanently and figure out some way to keep her here.” Adam nodded hesitantly. His father had a talent similar to his, but his mind ran on along the ideas of circuits, currents, architecture, physics, drafting, and engineering. He could basically build anything or invent something to solve any problem. “I need to ask you some questions if you don't mind?” said Adam quietly. He didn't exactly agree with the doctor's plans but for now he needed the man's help. He suspected if the doctor had his way a lobotomy would be in store for the child and Adam wouldn't wish that on anyone. “Why was the child brought here in the first place?” “Her parent's thought she was too...imaginative. She created massive fantasy worlds with her dolls and claimed she lived in them. She refused to 'live in the real world' as her parents put it. When she was here she had no such dolls and up until the last few months conducted herself in an appropriate manner.” Adam gritted his teeth; how idiotic that one could be considered crazy just because you could imagine. His opinion of the doctor was not improving. “Do you know the names of any of her imaginary friends? Or where she says she goes?” That information had been absent from the file and Adam wanted to find out if any of the names matched anyone or any place attached to the family in the past. Adam was working on the theory that the girl had a variation of a past-sight Talent; such a Talent would manifest first and most clearly with things connected directly to the person. The doctor looked surprised but nodded. “She only has one that she talks about at all. His name is Edward . According to her he lives in a house about an hours walk from the east edge of the city.” Adam kept his surprise concealed. Firstly there was no Edward in the family's history and secondly while the family was one of Prague's old families they were never purported to have property outside of the city. Of even more note was that young girls tended to covet their dolls as extensions of themselves; very rarely did they have male dolls. These facts put flight to all the simple possibilities he had been working on. “I assume you investigated wherever she said her “imaginary” friend lived? What did you find there?” The doctor looked surprised. “Why would I bother? We have enough to do here at the sanitarium and I'm positive no such person exists. Besides how would she even get an hours walk from the city? She's only a little girl. Even when she disappears it's doubtful she could get that far and back in a single night.” It was only years of keeping his emotions under strict control that allowed Adam to conceal his annoyance. Clearly the doctor was lazy as well as an idiot. “No of course there's obviously not anyone out there” he said with only the faintest touch of sarcasm. “But it would still be a good idea to check. I suppose you had better take me to the child so I can find out directly from here the directions to her “imaginary” friend. I've no doubt I can get to the bottom of this and allow you to provide a satisfactory report to the child's parents. That is what you need correct?” “Well, I” the doctor looked hesitant. Adam's words were mild but it was clear that he had spotted the doctor's real agenda. Keeping the girl's parents happy and keeping the money flowing. “I'd be glad to take you to the child, however your assistant must remain here. Privacy issues you see.” “Of course” said Adam mildly as if everything that was just said wasn't already an invasion of privacy. “Though I do prefer to have my assistant available to take notes as needed I understand the need for patient confidentiality.” He wasn't keen on getting separated, not after his last encounter with a “friend” but he was pretty certain this man cared about nothing except money. That was a pretty simple motivation and could be manipulated as needed. He didn't so much as glance at Lily as he followed the doctor to the back door but he hoped she would find a way to follow. [url=https://imgbb.com/][img]https://i.ibb.co/Fzbk4qF/London-Open-Air-Sanatorium.jpg[/img][/url] They crossed the grounds between what Adam had thought of as the “facade” building to the dormitory style quarters at the back and the doctor led them to one of the nicer buildings, these all had open air portions to allow the patients to get sun and fresh air while still being contained. The doctor led him down an interior hall and stopped at a room, knocking briefly before unlocking the door and entering. The girl's room was empty and from the good doctors expression it wasn't supposed to be.